Taliban welcomes Canadian decision on Afghanistan pullout

Toronto, Sep 16 (IANS) The Taliban has welcomed the Canadian announcement to pull troops out of Afghanistan by 2011, saying the insurgents will easily rout the Afghan government army which is “made of plastic”.Canada, which joined the US-led coalition in Afghanistan in 2002, has 2,500 troops fighting the Taliban in Kandahar province and training the Afghan army and the police.

With the public and the political opinion turning against the deployment as the Canadian toll touches 100, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday that the troops will be back home by 2011.

A Taliban top commander Monday welcomed the decision, saying it will “help save Canadian civilians and soldiers”.

A Canadian agency report from Kabul quoted Taliban commander Mullah Jalil Akhund as saying “we want foreign troops out of our country, and those that insist on staying, we will carry on fighting”.

He said the Taliban will have little problem in routing the Afghan government forces.

“Every single Afghan knows that the Afghan National Security Forces are nothing compared to the Taliban fighters. We want the Canadian government not to interfere with our domestic war. Let us fight and see who the winner is,” said Akhund.

The Taliban commander added: “We know how to face down the current Afghan government. The Afghan National Army is made of plastic. It can easily be melted when heated even slightly.”

Just last week, Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yussef had asked the next Canadian prime minister to abandon the US and withdraw from Afghanistan.

The spokesman had said that the Taliban knew the stand of the current prime minister on Afghanistan but was clueless where other parties stood.

“When any of these party leaders come to power, the first thing they must do is ask the Canadians to come from Afghanistan to Canada,” he had said.

Canada has become the focus of the Taliban propaganda in recent weeks.

Three weeks ago, in an open letter to the Canadian public, the Taliban told them to put pressure on their government to pull out of Afghanistan or face more deaths.